Hands-on: getting work done with Google’s new Aura interface for Chrome OS

Google has updated Chrome OS. Is it more usable?

Google attempted to introduce a new approach to computing when it first launched Chrome OS in 2010. The operating system consists of little more than a fullscreen Web browser perched atop a rigorously-hardened Linux environment. The platform makes some unusual trade-offs, eschewing conventional native applications in exchange for bulletproof security and low-maintenance stateless computing.

Although the unique approach that Google is pursuing with Chrome OS offers some intriguing benefits, the platform hasn’t inspired enthusiasm in consumers. It offers limited functionality and a poor user experience compared to more conventional alternatives. Chrome OS in its current state is simply too alien and too restrictive to appeal to a mainstream audience. But that’s about to change in a major way.

Google is readying the next iteration of Chrome OS, which promises to remedy the deepest deficiencies of the wayward Web-centric software platform. A new user interface layer called Aura, which offers many improvements over the current Chrome OS software environment, has reached the testing stage.

Although Aura is still a work in progress, Google recently made it available through the Chrome OS developer channel, making it possible for advanced users to obtain it on Samsung’s Series 5 Chromebooks. That particular laptop is the model that Google and Samsung gifted to Google I/O attendees (including me) last year.

I decided to put Aura to the test on my Series 5 and see if the changes are comprehensive enough to boost the product’s viability for day-to-day use. After several days of testing, I’ve found it to be a significant improvement. Chrome OS still has some serious limitations that are intrinsic to its Web-only focus, but Aura has gracefully corrected the most significant problems with Chrome OS usability.

The new Chrome OS desktop environment.

Updating

The Chrome OS platform and Web browser are updated over the air with Chrome’s standard update mechanism. Much like the Chrome Web browser on conventional desktop computers, Chrome OS uses a channel system that gives advanced users the option of using prerelease builds. This feature is accessible through the About dialog in the Web browser.

Aura is currently only available through the developer channel, which provides unstable builds for testing experimental features. When I enabled the developer channel, the system performed a full update and prompted me to reboot. After the reboot completed and I logged back in, I was treated to my first hands-on experience with Aura.

Adjusting the Chrome OS update channel.

Window management

Chrome OS was originally designed to be nothing but a fullscreen browser window. The user could create multiple windows and switch between them, but only one window was visible at a time. Some critical Web browsing features, such as the ability to snap off tabs and drag tabs between windows, were not supported.

Google has abandoned the single-window model in favor of a conventional window management system that behaves similarly to the ones found in existing desktop computing platforms. The user gets the traditional stack of overlapping windows that can be moved and resized as desired. In addition to the window manager, the Aura desktop environment also includes a task management panel at the bottom of the screen.

Overlapping windows on the Chrome OS desktop.

The environment is pleasantly predictable and offers few surprises. Existing computer users will find it intuitive and easy to grasp. During the first hour of use, I rarely found myself wondering how to take advantage of its features. It seems to pose a much less jarring transition for new users than the previous iteration.

The window titlebars are semitransparent with a slight blur. The bottom panel is completely invisible unless the user drags a window behind it, at which point it gains a translucent tint. The general design is reminiscent of Microsoft Aero Glass.

Individual windows can be resized by dragging any of their borders or corners. When your cursor hovers over a window edge, a shaded line appears and the cursor changes to indicate that resizing is possible. You can move a window by clicking and dragging the titlebar. I was a bit disappointed to find that it doesn’t let you drag by holding alt and clicking anywhere in the window, a feature that can be found in the vast majority of Linux window managers.

In addition to borrowing the Aero aesthetic, the Aura window manager also supports Aero snap. Dragging a window to the left or right edge of the screen will cause it to snap into place and fill the associated half the screen. This feature is convenient when you want to view two browser windows side-by-side.

In a nod to tiling window managers, Google has implemented a nice feature that lets you resize two snapped windows together. When you have two windows on the screen positioned next to each other, hovering the cursor over the border between them will cause a special dragging handle to appear.

When you drag that handle to the left or right, it will simultaneously increase the width of one window while reducing the width of the other in a way that corresponds. It’s sort of like having two windows that are joined together with a single splitter between them, as you would have in a tiling window manager such as Ion.

Resizing two snapped windows.

Every window has two buttons in the titlebar: an X button that closes the window and a square that can be clicked to cause the window to maximize. The maximize button has a few other tricks up its sleeve, however. If you click and hold the maximize button, you can drag it to the left or right to snap the window to one edge of the screen or the other. You can also click and drag the maximize button down, which will cause the window to minimize.